Hoover Dam and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Statue of Rafael Rivera at Old Vegas, Henderson, NV. (1978) L-R: unidentified; unidentified; Larry Luna (wearing black hat); unidentified; unidentified; Stanley Paher (light pants, light plaid shirt, bare-headed); and Elbert Edwards.
On February 26th, 1979, Scot Siegel interviewed his psychology professor, Dr. Harrie Hess (born March 1, 1929 in Hammond, Indiana) in his office at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Dr. Hess discusses his family’s reason for moving to Nevada and how he felt as a young adult moving to Las Vegas. The two go on to talk about Dr. Hess’ contributions to Nevada through his work as a psychologist, and briefly mentions the first law to be drafted on psychology certification in Nevada. Dr. Hess then describes the Wild Cat Lair as an important site of social recreation for early Las Vegas youth. The interview concludes with his memory of Boulder (Hoover) Dam and how he believes that workers from the Great Depression paved the way for industrial success in gambling due to their employment on the Dam.